The Masquerade
by Spoofmaster
Summary: An essay based on an AP prompt exploring the book version of the Masquerade and what it reveals. I promise it's not as dry as I just made it sound.


Hope you know I'm not Gaston Leroux...wait, it's not an issue. Isn't the copyright run out anyway?

I wrote this for my AP Lit and Comp teacher this past semester shortly after reading the novel for the first time. She told me that I should not write an essay on PotO for the actual AP test since not that many of the graders would be likely to have read it and many would probably think I was basing it off the movie. Poo on ignorance! So anyway, I wrote this expressly for her (despite the fact that she'd never heard/seen/read any version of PotO) off a prompt we had looked at for practice. I don't remember the prompt's exact words, but it asked for an example of a party or social gathering in a literary work that revealed both the meaning of the work as a whole and the values of the individual characters. It was just too good of an opportunity to pass up.

So, here we go!

In his classic novel, The Phantom of the Opera, Gaston Leroux uses the actions and interactions of his characters at the masquerade to reveal both their inner values and to allow the readers a glimpse into the meaning of the work as a whole.

Foremost of the three characters the story centers on is Christine Daae. Though it places her in danger, she not only attends the masquerade but also arranges to meet Raoul de Chagny there. She is in danger due to Erik, the "phantom," who is prone to insane jealousy and capable of seemingly anything. When she meets with Raoul, she insists on hiding in an empty theatre box, fearing for Raoul's life. At this point in the story, Raoul has been trying very hard to unearth the truth about Christine's "angel of music," and she uses this opportunity to attempt to warn him away before Erik kills him. When Raoul realizes that Erik is nearby, Christine restrains him from going to fight him. Christine loves Raoul, and feels pity for Erik, and would not see either of them hurt, despite the fact that Raoul, in his doubts about her character, insults her, and Erik is deformed and obsessive. She is truly selfless in her behavior towards both of her suitors, despite their various shortcomings. Thus, she has already attained that selflessness which the conclusion of the book proclaims true love to be made of.

Raoul, too, attends the party for real love, though his motives are somewhat more selfish than those of Christine. While it is true that he attends only to see her once more after their long and mysterious separation, he does it nearly as much to satisfy his own curiosity as to try to help Christine. This and his frequent bouts of self-pity (despite his opulent lifestyle and loving family) throughout the book indicate that his motives are on a level lower than Christine's. It must be noted, however, that Raoul at least makes the effort despite his great discomfort at wearing a silly mask and putting himself in a situation that he feels is below him. So unhappy is he at making himself "absurd" that the reader must conclude that he is driven by enough concern to disregard both his dignity and his anger with her. His immaturity shows, however, when he attempts to attack Erik for being his rival and then insults her when she stops him, assuming she loves Erik rather than him. It is clear that though Raoul is driven by his love for Christine, he is certainly not entirely selfless.

In contrast to the other two characters, Erik reveals himself to be utterly selfish and childish when he appears at the masquerade. His childishness is evident in his outfit: he is dressed in an extravagant red suit with a long cape that trails on the floor. On his face is an intricate death's head mask, on his hat is a large feather, and embroidered on the back of his cape are the phrases "Don't touch me! I am Red Death stalking abroad!" This is one of Erik's earliest actual appearances in the novel (an earlier and shorter one is in the graveyard where Christine's father is buried), and the impression which he gives the reader as he stands in the midst of an admiring crowd, soaking in their praise, is one of a child showing off his latest accomplishment in order to have his prowess confirmed by others and thereby to satisfy his ego. Indeed, he is at the masquerade only in order to jealously watch after Christine to insure her strict loyalty to him and to pursue his favored pastime of astonishing others with his skills. Though his behavior is hardly to be wondered at considering his social predicament and less than optimal upbringing, it is impossible to argue that he goes through it for the sake of anyone other than himself. Therefore, it can be concluded that of the three characters, at the time of the masquerade, Erik is the furthest from being selfless.

The states and motives of the three characters at the masquerade are representative of the stages Erik travels through during the remainder of the novel. For quite some time, he remains selfish, going so far as to prepare enough explosives to destroy a quarter of Paris in the event that Christine would refuse his demand that she marry him. Eventually he progresses to Raoul's state of concern for both his own desires and those of Christine, and finally to the point where he realizes that to truly love Christine is to let her be happy without him. The masquerade is a solid reminder of how far Erik has to go before he reaches selflessness and redemption from his murdering ways (for he is, after all, a murderer), but gives two happier examples of love in Christine and Raoul.

Each of the characters represents a different level of concern for others, ranging from one extreme to the other. By the end of the novel, each will have committed selfless acts for the sake of those they love, but at the time of the masked ball, they are all three at different points in their ascendance to that level of compassion. The ball is a perfect demonstration of this, revealing both the characters and the events they are moving towards.


End file.
